Monday 28 February 2011

Shamelessly using music to manipulate the emotions

Now, this is a subtle and contentious subject. Music is a powerful force. Like scents and colours, it can hit us straight in the emotions. Which is why we have to be careful about where encouraging people to worship - or setting the mood - or even "sensing where the [S/s]pirit is leading" - shades into emotional and psychological manipulation.

Normally you might be using some storming, rocky music for a time of spiritual warfare. Well, you might. Round here I like to keep things on a gentler, less overtly masculine footing. So we might choose a set of songs that are generally uplifting and cheering, for a happy kind of congregation. Or maybe something calmer, if you wanted a relaxed and generally open congregation. Or something slightly edgier, with a few minor chords thrown in, if we want a thoughtful congregation. Or something more even and meditative for a time of pondering meditatively on the goodness of things without any real existential challenge.

But this afternoon we carried out a little test. We chose the following song list, to see what effect it had on the congregation:
Introit: Flower's Grave by Tom Waits, from Alice

After the opening prayers: Waiting for the Worms , from Pink Floyd's The Wall

After the meditative reading (Stevie Smith's Not Waving, but Drowning) we "did" Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me by the Smiths. With a very nice ocarina solo, in my opinion.

Played "over" the prayers for healing (always a very effective arrangement): The Verve's The Drugs Don't Work

And to send us out in the right frame of mind, the recessional was Radiohead's Creep.

So the question is, did it work? Can the use of depressing music also be used to manipulate the emotions? We were going to get everyone to fill in a questionnaire, but they're all hiding under their beds and refusing to come out of their rooms, or standing in the garden gazing into space. So I think we can only say the results are "inconclusive".

1 comment :

  1. The words "ocarina solo" would probably be enough to make our Master of the Music drop down stone cold dead.

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